By Email

18 September 2020

The Rt Hon Dominic Raab, MP

Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Dear Foreign Secretary,

I write to submit my resignation as the United Kingdom’s Special Envoy on Media Freedom.

When the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (as it then was) asked me to serve as Special Envoy on
Media Freedom, the role was described as one in which I would assist the UK in championing the
right to a free press around the world. My role was intended to help promote action that
governments could take to ensure that existing international obligations relating to media freedom
are enforced in accordance with international law. I accepted the role because I believe in the
importance of the cause, and appreciate the significant role that the UK has played and can continue
to play in promoting the international legal order.

In these circumstances I have been dismayed to learn that the government intends to pass legislation
– the Internal Market Bill - which would, by the government’s own admission, ‘break international
law’ if enacted.1 I was also concerned to note the position taken by the Government that although it
is an ‘established principle of international law that a state is obliged to discharge its treaty obligations
in good faith’, the UK’s ‘Parliament is sovereign as a matter of domestic law and can pass legislation
which is in breach of the UK’s Treaty obligations’.2

Although the government has suggested that the violation of international law would be ‘specific and
limited’, it is lamentable for the UK to be speaking of its intention to violate an international treaty
signed by the Prime Minister less than a year ago. Out of respect for the professional working
relationship I have developed with you and your senior colleagues working on human rights, I
deferred writing this letter until I had had a chance to discuss this matter with you directly. But having
now done so and received no assurance that any change of position is imminent, I have no alternative
but to resign from my position.

1
Hansard, 8 September 2020, vol 679, col 509.
2
HM Government, HMG Legal Position: UKIM Bill and Northern Ireland Protocol, 10 September 2020.

1
I am disappointed to have to do so because I have always been proud of the UK’s reputation as a
champion of the international legal order, and of the culture of fair play for which it is known.
However, very sadly, it has now become untenable for me, as Special Envoy, to urge other states to
respect and enforce international obligations while the UK declares that it does not intend to do so
itself. As the President of the Bar Council of England and Wales has affirmed, undermining the rule
of law that ‘this country is built on … will fatally puncture people’s faith in our justice system’.3
And it threatens to embolden autocratic regimes that violate international law with devastating
consequences all over the world.

Foreign Secretary, I strongly believe in the importance of the media freedom campaign that the UK
and Canada are leading, and I commend you on your role in spearheading the creation of a UK
human rights sanctions regime that furthers its goals. I believe the UK can be a tremendous force
for good. But for the reasons outlined above, I am no longer prepared to serve as the government’s
Envoy at this time. A statement relating to my functions on the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts
on Media Freedom is annexed to this letter.

Sincerely,

Amal Clooney

3
The Bar Council, ‘Bar Council Responds to the Government’s Intention to Break International Law’, 9 September
2020. See also The Law Society, Rule of Law Defines Who We Are and Underpins Our Place in the World, 15
September 2020.

2
 Annex

INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION’S

HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE

NEWS RELEASE
[For immediate release: Friday 18 September 2020]

STATEMENT BY LORD NEUBERGER OF ABBOTSBURY

AND BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY QC IN SUPPORT OF
AMAL CLOONEY’s RESIGNATION AS UK SPECIAL ENVOY
ON MEDIA FREEDOM
The High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom is an independent body that was
convened at the request of the UK and Canadian governments. The Panel comprises a diverse
group of lawyers, academics and judges from around the world with expertise in international
human rights law. The Chair of the Panel is Lord Neuberger, former President of the UK Supreme
Court. Panel members have been selected and appointed by him. The Deputy Chair is Amal
Clooney. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute acts as Secretariat to the
Panel.

The Panel’s mandate is to (1) propose initiatives that can be taken by governments to ensure
existing international obligations relating to media freedom are upheld, (2) to disseminate
elements for model legislation to promote and protect a vibrant free press, and (3) to report on
means of raising the cost to those who target journalists for their work.

4th Floor, 10 St Bride Street, London EC4A 4AD, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7842 0090 Fax: +44 (0)20 7842 0091
www.ibanet.org
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Chair of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom,
has stated that:

“I agree with what Ms Clooney says in her letter of 18 September to the Foreign Secretary.
I support her principled response to the shameful attitude of the UK government to its
international treaty obligations in the Internal Markets Bill and in ministerial
announcements that it is prepared to break international law. Ms Clooney’s deputy
chairmanship of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom is quite distinct
from her role as the UK’s Media Freedom Envoy, and I look forward to continuing to work
with her and the other distinguished members of the Panel in carrying out its important
functions. Journalists who are persecuted, imprisoned and even murdered for their work
deserve all the help that they can get, including through legal reforms by governments that
follow the Panel’s advice. It is in the interest of freedom of expression and the rule of law
that they get such help”.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Director of the International Bar Association Human Rights
Institute, Secretariat to the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, has stated that:

“I fully endorse the statements made in Ms Clooney’s letter of resignation and respect her
decision to stand down as Envoy while maintaining her role on the Panel. Members of the
Panel are appointed on an unpaid basis as a result of their relevant expertise and the Panel
should complete its current mandate”.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

(1) The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost
organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies.
Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the
conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to
global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
(2) The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), an autonomous and
financially independent entity, works to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a
just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession
worldwide.
(3) Follow the IBAHRI on Twitter here: twitter.com/IBAHRI

For further information, please contact:

Romana St. Matthew - Daniel

Press Office
International Bar Association
4th Floor, 10 St Bride Street,
London EC4A 4AD,
United Kingdom

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